Black Facts
August 23, 1917
A race riot in Houston takes
place between soldiers of the
24th Infantry Regiment and
White citizens. Two Blacks and
11 Whites are killed. Martial
law is declared.
Source: blackfacts.com

ANSWERS FROM 8-5-10

www.lawattstimes.com

L.A. Watts Times 3

Obama Signs Jobs Bill
as CBC Chair Calls for
Specific Help for Blacks
BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEY
NNPA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
WASHINGTON (NNPA) —
As the Black unemployment rate
rose slightly last month, President
Obama has signed the long-awaited
jobs bill with hopes of turning
around employment rates, which for
African-Americans still nearly doubles the national average of 9.5 percent.
“The Manufacturing Enhancement Act of 2010 will create jobs,
help American companies compete,
and strengthen manufacturing as a
key driver of our economic recovery,” Obama said during a bill signing ceremony at the White House
recently. “To make their products,
manufacturers — some of whom are
represented here today — often
have to import certain materials
from other countries and pay tariffs
on those materials. This legislation
will reduce or eliminate some of
those tariffs, which will significantly lower costs for American companies across the manufacturing landscape — from cars to chemicals;
medical devices to sporting goods.
And that will boost output, support
good jobs here at home, and lower
prices for American consumers.”

Obama’s stroke of the pen will
not wipe out all of the damage done
during the economic crisis that started in earnest during the Bush
administration. But, there are high
hopes in Black communities where
the jobless rate reached back to 15.6
percent last month, up from 15.4 in
June, according to the Bureau of
Labor Statistics.
Unemployment among Black
males — though down significantly
from its high of 19 percent in March
— is still at 16.7 percent, nearly
twice the average White rate of 8.6
and White male rate of 8.8 percent.
There is contention among
some that Obama may need to take
specific actions to help quell the disparate economic suffering in the
Black community.
“Unemployment rates for
African-Americans and Latinos
remain unacceptably high at 15.6
percent and 12.1 percent, respectively, and highlighting the disproportionate impact the recession has
had and the need for targeted efforts
to address chronic unemployment,”
Congressional Black Caucus Chair
Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said in a
statement.
In the president’s bill-signing
statement, there was no specific

AP Photo by J. Scott Applewhite

President Barack Obama signs a $26 billion jobs bill to protect 300,000 teachers and other nonfederal government
workers from election-year layoffs, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010.
Behind him are, from left, Christina Romer, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, and three out-of-work teachers teachers: Amanda VanNess of Toledo, Ohio; Shannon Lewis, of Romney, W. Va.; and and Rachel Martin of
Richton Park, Ill.
mention of the Black unemployment rate at the bill signing Aug. 11.
However, recently, Obama acknowledged to thousands at the
National Urban League Convention
that Black communities had already
been hit substantially by the economy before he ever took office.
“The African-American unemployment rate was already much
higher, the incomes and wealth of
African-American families already

BRIEFS
Memorial Honors Victims
of L.A.’s ‘Grim Sleeper’
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Victims of the “Grim Sleeper” serial
killer were honored with a photo
memorial in South Los Angeles.
Pictures of 10 slain women
were placed in front of Bethel AME
Church on Aug. 10 — the 25th
anniversary of the first killing.
Organizers say it’s an attempt
to humanize victims who have
become little more than names with
the passage of time.
People left flowers and candles
and penned notes of consolation to
the families on the photographs.
Civic leaders also stopped by
and an evening memorial service
was planned.
Local mechanic Lonnie Franklin Jr. has been charged with murdering women in a series of attacks
from 1985 to 2007. A 14-year gap
between assaults led police to dub
the mysterious killer the “Grim
Sleeper.”
Police say DNA evidence led
them to arrest Franklin last month.

L.A. Carwash Owners
Sentenced To Prison
(AP) — The owners of four
Los Angeles car washes who were
accused of mistreating workers have

each been sentenced to a year in
prison as part of a plea agreement.
Brothers Benny and Nissan
Pirian also were ordered Monday to
pay $1.25 million in unpaid wages
to 54 workers and received four
years probation.
The men each pleaded no contest Friday to a half-dozen criminal
counts, including conspiracy and
grand theft, and several labor code
violations.
Prosecutors say the brothers’
employees worked for years without
receiving minimum wage or overtime, and worked in hazardous conditions where they were regularly
exposed to chemicals and also were
not provided with drinking water.
A prosecutor says the $1.25
million payment will be divided
among the 54 workers named in the
criminal complaint.

Excessive Bell Salaries
Prompt Bills in California
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)
—California lawmakers are debating bills stemming from a salary
scandal in the small Los Angeles
suburb of Bell that set off a fierce
debate about the compensation of
municipal employees.
The deadline to introduce new
bills in the California Legislature
passed in February, but lawmakers

are amending existing bills to allay
fears that other municipalities could
be paying excessive salaries to their
employees.
Under one bill going before the
Legislature this week, SB501, all
city, county and school district
employees would have to report
their compensation each year and
have it posted on a public website.
The secretary of state would
develop a form for employees to
report salaries, stipends and other
reimbursement.
“We have all heard about the
pillaging in the city of Bell,”
Assemblyman Hector De La Torre,
D-South Gate, co-sponsor of the
bill, told colleagues in a recent
address. “This is one measure ... that
will be coming through the process
so that we will never see this situation again.”
Sen. Lou Correa, D-Anaheim,
said he introduced SB501 to
increase transparency in all levels of
government. He said members of
the Legislature and their staffs
already report their compensation
publicly.
“People look through this stuff,
and I think that’s good for the system,” Correa said.
That bill will be heard in the
Assembly Local Government
Committee on Wednesday.

lower,” he said. “There was less of a
cushion. Many minority communities — whether in big cities or rural
towns — had seen businesses and
opportunities vanish for years,
stores boarded up, young people
hanging out on the street corners
without prospects for the future.”
He added, “So when we came
in to office, we focused not just on
rescuing our economy in the short
run, but rebuilding our economy for
the long run — creating an economy
that lifts up all Americans.”
He also told the NUL crowd
that certain actions by his adminis-

tration have been intended to at least
respond to the Black unemployment
rate, including “making sure civil
rights and anti-discrimination laws
are enforced.”
Meanwhile, the issue that was
predicted to be his toughest is measuring up to its expectations, Obama
said: “Now, we knew from the
beginning that reversing the damage
done by the worst financial crisis
and the deepest recession in generations would take some time — more
time than anyone would like. And
we knew that it would require an
ongoing effort across all fronts.”

L.A. Watts Times

4

Thursday, August 19, 2010

‘I Am Here,’ Rangel Declares
Alianza, the Post reported, owes $280,000 to
its employees and is slated
to receive $2.5 million
from the Upper Manhattan
Empowerment Zone
(UMEZ), which is a nonprofit organization associated with Rangel.
Ken Knuckles, president and CEO of UMEZ,
told the Amsterdam News
that the Post story was
AP Photo by Bebeto Matthews misleading in several
Rep. Charles Rangel speaks during a news conference at his Harlem office, Aug. 12, ways.
“We didn’t guarantee
in New York. Rangel says he’s ready to start campaigning for re-election. The embattled 20-year House veteran says he is ready to stop discussing the ethics allegation any of the loans,” he
pending against him. Rangel says he’s going to turn his attention back to his district explained. He said the
funds provided for the
in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood.
six-story building behind
the Audubon Ballroom —
commanding time that many of his
BY HERB BOYD
and
the
last
work designed by the
fellow Democrats preferred to
SPECIAL TO THE NNPA
spend celebrating the passing of a late Max Bond — is money for the
FROM THE AMSTERDAM NEWS
new jobs bill.
Political consultant Bill Lynch
(NNPA) — Congressman
Charles Rangel, charged with 13 said in a recent interview that
violations by the House ethics com- mainstream media “will do everymittee, took the House floor Aug. 10 thing they can to discredit him.”
A recent story in the New York
and, in effect, began his defense.
Allotted an hour to express his Post is perhaps indicative of
feelings about the charges, the 80- Lynch’s concern.
According to the paper,
year-old representative from Harlem, often resorting to the third per- Rangel was defiant in his defense
son when referring to himself, threw of Alianza Dominicana, an Upper
down the gauntlet and let his col- Manhattan charity group that is
leagues know that he was not quit- enduring financial woes.
“Anyone who wants to chalting, that “I am here.”
“I rise to the floor because the lenge the integrity of Alianza
newspapers and the media have Dominicana, talk to the people that
indicated that there’s a concern of have been the beneficiaries of it,”
some of the members of this House Rangel said during a prethat I retire or I remove myself from Dominican Day Parade breakfast at
this body, and I’ve always tried to the Mamajuana Cafe on Dyckman
play by the rules,” he said after Street.

“fit out or build out” or completion
of a building that “will be a community asset (while) trying to preserve” many cultural aspects,
Knuckles concluded.
Rangel is trying to protect and
preserve his career. During his
floor speech, he made several references to his 40 years in Congress
and the contributions he has made.
“I’m the guy who was raising
money in Republican districts to
get you here,” he reminded some
of his Democratic colleagues,
many of whom are facing re-election bids and are wary of being too
closely associated with him.
Rangel also mentioned Adam
Clayton Powell Jr., the legend he
defeated in 1970, who, near the
end of his political career, was
similarly snared in a web of allegations about wrongdoing.

“Adam Powell knew (the situation) when they wouldn’t let him
be seated,” Rangel said about
Powell’s problems. “And the
courts, of course, overruled it. But
if I can’t get my dignity back here,
then fire your best shot in getting
rid of me through expulsion.”
At the core of his speech was
a call for the ethics committee to
move with alacrity and not let him
hang in the wind until November.
“And maybe, just maybe, the
members of the ethics committee
might think about telling me when
they think they might have a hearing, so that whatever they decide, I
can let my constituents, my (family),
my friends know that I did the best I
could, as an American, as a patriot,
and someone who loves this country,” Rangel concluded. “Thank you
for your attention. Go home.”

Update

Photos by KELVIN FIELDS

Dozens of people gathered Aug. 16 to remember Mitrice Richardson, the then-24-year-old African- American
woman who was missing since last September and whose remains were recently found in a Malibu canyon. At
the event, Michael Richardson, Mitrice’s father, stressed that he’s determined to find out what happened to his
daughter. Mitrice Richardson was arrested at Geoffrey’s Malibu restaurant on Sept. 16, 2009, after reportedly
not paying a bill for about $89. She was eventually taken to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Malibu/Lost Hills
station in Agoura, and, after some time there, was released in the early morning without a purse, car or cell
phone. Her remains were found last week. Pictured: (right) A crowd gathered at the vigil; (left) Michael
Richardson speaks to the audience.

African Diaspora
South Africaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day
Takes Aim at Inequality
Special to the NNPA from GIN
(GIN) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Following in the steps
of 20,000 women who in 1956
marched to the Union Buildings,
seat of government, in Pretoria, to
protest racist pass laws, hundreds of
women marked the day, Aug. 9,
known as national Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day.
Led by Tshwane executive
mayor Gwen Ramokgopa, the
march was held under the banner of
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Working together for equal opportunity and progress for women.â&#x20AC;?
Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille
paid tribute to the daughters and
granddaughters of the women of
1956. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Over half a century later, on
Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day ... there is cause for
some celebration, but much needs
do be done.â&#x20AC;?
A more critical note was sounded by Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
who faulted the African National
Party (ANC) party for failing to
implement its own policies â&#x20AC;&#x201C; especially those concerning women.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t say the ANC has
failed women ... itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the responsibility of every South African to transform society,â&#x20AC;? she said. But South
African women need more than
annual womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rallies to solve
their inequality, she said.
At a crowded Buffalo City sta-

dium in the Eastern Cape, President
Jacob Zuma agreed that rapid gender and racial transformation in the
private sector was crucial. He urged
men to â&#x20AC;&#x153;confront their attitudes and
insecurities.â&#x20AC;?
Currently, less than 3 percent of
top level directors in the private sector are Black women, while
coloured and Indian women make
up only 1 percent each of all top
management positions, according to
a new study.
Minister for Women, Children
and People with Disabilities
Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, said a
planned new law would look at
equal pay for equal work and â&#x20AC;&#x153;5050 representation and participation
of women in decision-making structures.â&#x20AC;? She said the bill will be
introduced in Parliament soon.

Nigeria: Former VP
Announces Presidential Bid
BY BASHIR ADIGUN
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s former vice president
Atiku Abubakar, who was accused
of bribing a U.S. congressman while
in office, announced Sunday he
would seek the nomination of the
oil-rich countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ruling party to run
for the presidency.
Abubakar, 63, would need the

Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Democratic Party to again
accept him as a member before contesting the primary, as he ran unsuccessfully as a presidential candidate
for an opposition party in 2007.
However, his candidacy as a
Muslim from northern Nigeria
could pressure the party after a
Christian from the south became
Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s president earlier this year
following the death of its elected
Muslim leader.
At a news conference Sunday,
Abubakar told reporters he came to
the decision after talking with family, friends and supporters.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have no illusions about the
toughness of the challenges ahead,
but with the support of our people
we can overcome them,â&#x20AC;? he said. He
took only a few questions from
reporters before rowdy supporters
who flooded the event drowned out
their voices.
Abubakar served as vice president under President Olusegun
Obasanjo during his two, four-year
term presidency. Their time in office
marked Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s return to democracy after a string of military dictatorships and failed governments that
followed the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s independence
from Britain in 1960.
However, Abubakar received
the most international attention during the trial of ex-Louisiana congressman William Jefferson, whose
freezer was stocked with $90,000 in
cash at the time of an FBI raid.
During Jeffersonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 2009 federal
trial, a Nigerian businessman testi-

fying for the prosecution told
jurors that Abubakar paid
Jefferson $100,000 to help
Abubakar make political contacts in the United States. A
lawyer for Abubakar denied the
allegation at the time.
Orphaned at age 8, Abubakar worked through law school
and joined the Nigerian customs
service, rising to the secondhighest position after 20 years.
He left as a wealthy businessman and his support helped
ensure Obasanjoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s electoral
wins in 1999 and 2003.
He fell out with the ruling
party after refusing to support a constitutional amendment allowing Obasanjo to run
for a third term.
Abubakar is the second
high-profile Nigerian to announce his plans to run in next
yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s election, which could be
held as early as January. Former
Nigerian
military
leader
Ibrahim Babangida, who seized
power in a bloodless coup and
annulled an election intended to
hand over power to a civilian leader,
also has said he will run.
President Goodluck Jonathan, a
Christian from Nigeriaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oil-rich
and restive southern delta, has yet to
say whether heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll run. Jonathan
came to office after the May 5 death
of President Umaru Yarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Adua, a
Muslim from the country's north.
An unwritten agreement in the
Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Democratic Party calls for

AP Photo
Atiku Abubakar

its presidential candidates to alternate between the Christian south
and the Muslim north. Party leaders
anticipated Yarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Adua holding office
for two, four-year terms, like his
Christian predecessor Obasanjo.
On Friday, the ruling partyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
executive committee said Jonathan
could stand in the 2011 election,
though that wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t preclude any
other candidate seeking the nomination during the primary.

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L.A. Watts Times

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Shrimping Season in La. Reopens After Spill
BY CAIN BURDEAU AND MARY FOSTER,
AP WRITERS
GRAND ISLE, La. – Fishermen who
spent much of the summer mopping up oil
from BP’s disastrous spill got back to work as
the fall shrimping season in Louisiana’s coastal
waters opened Monday amid anxiety over
whether the catch will be tainted by crude and
whether anyone will buy it even if it is clean.
Scores of shrimpers headed out at first
light, and early reports indicated a plentiful
and clean catch. But a new analysis of federal
estimates show the optimism may be premature about how much oil remains in the Gulf.
“We’re not seeing any oil where I’m
at. No tar balls, nothing,” said Brian
Amos, a 53-year-old shrimper who
trawled in his 28-foot skiff, The Rolling
Thunder, in a bay near Empire.
It was a step toward normalcy for
many coastal towns that have been in
limbo in the nearly four months since the
spill shut down fishing, an economic
linchpin for dock owners, restaurants and
many other businesses along the Louisiana
coast. Louisiana ranks first in the nation in
shrimp, blue crab, crawfish and oysters,
and the state's seafood industry overall
generates an estimated $2.4 billion a year.
Five Georgia scientists who reviewed the
data said Aug. 16 that instead of only 26 percent
of the oil remaining, as a federal report said earlier this month, it’s actually closer to 80 percent.
“Where has all the oil gone? It hasn’t
gone anywhere. It still lurks in the deep,” said
University of Georgia marine scientist Chuck
Hopkinson. He headed the quick independent look by the Georgia Sea Grant program at
the estimates the White House released.

White House energy adviser Carol
Browner said on morning news shows earlier
this month: “More than three-quarters of the oil
is gone. The vast majority of the oil is gone.”
The Georgia team said it is a misinterpretation of data to claim that oil that is dissolved or dispersed is gone.
“The bottom line is most of it is still
out there,” Hopkinson told The Associated
Press. “There’s nothing in the report to substantiate the 26 percent.”
Also Monday:
• Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad
Allen, who is overseeing the oil-spill crisis
for the government, said it will take at least a
week to permanently plug the well with mud
and cement once he gives the go-ahead for
the “bottom kill.” He said he is not sure
when that will happen, because scientists are
working on ways to perform the kill without
further damaging the well.
• The Obama administration announced it is requiring environmental
reviews for all new deep-water oil drilling,
ending the kind of exemptions that
allowed BP to drill its ill-fated well with
little scrutiny.
• BP said it will give federal and state
health organizations $52 million to help people dealing with stress and anxiety because
of the spill, which erupted after the offshore
drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded
April 20, killing 11 workers. The oil finally
stopped flowing in mid-July after BP put a
temporary cap on the blown-out well.
Amos and his fellow shrimpers were
working in Louisiana’s state-controlled waters,
which extend three miles from shore.
Shrimpers who ply those waters lost most of

AP Photo by Gerald Herbert

(Above) Shrimpers haul in their catch in Bastian Bay, near Empire, La., on
the first day of shrimping season since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,
Aug. 16.
their spring season — which runs from midMay to early July — because of the spill. The
fall shrimping season runs from mid-August to
December.
Shrimping is also open in state-controlled waters off Mississippi, Alabama,
Florida and Texas. Federal waters, which
are open nearly year-round for boats to
trawl for bigger shrimp, remain closed to
shrimping off Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama, though some spots could open
within days, depending on the results of
extensive tests.

Laboratory tests on seafood from the
gulf have shown little hazard from oil, and
a test is being developed for the chemicals
used to disperse the crude, though there is
no evidence they build up in seafood. Still,
shrimpers are worried that the public won't
want what they catch.
“I feel that we have had a bad rap on
the perception of our product,” said Andrew
Blanchard, who waited Monday for shrimp
boats to arrive at his processing plant in
Chauvin. Fewer arrived than normal, five
versus the usual 20 on a normal opening

day, but he said that was because most
boats are still doing cleanup work for BP,
not because of any problem with the
shrimp.
Ravin Lacoste of Theriot said he
believes his fellow shrimpers know better
than to turn in a bad catch. “If you put bad
shrimp on the market — we in enough trouble now with our shrimp,” Lacoste said.
“You might can go in the closed waters and
catch more shrimp. But it ain’t worth it.”
Prices spiked soon after the rig explosion, fueled by fears that the shrimp would
soon be unavailable. But then, despite state
and federal assurances that the seafood
reaching the market was safe, demand
dropped and prices crashed a month ago.
Things were precarious in the industry
even before the spill. For the past decade,
shrimpers along the Gulf Coast have had to
contend with hurricanes, high fuel prices and
a flood of imported shrimp.
Louisiana’s shrimp harvest was valued
at $240 million in 2000, but that dropped to
about $133 million last year. The number of
shrimp licenses issued by the state plummeted from about 44,000 in 1986 to 14,000 last
year.
Still, there are reasons for hope. There
were fears that the spill would kill large
amounts of shrimp larvae. But Martin
Bourgeois, a state fisheries biologist, said
initial observations show they may have
made it through intact.
Associated Press Writers Harry R.
Weber, Kevin McGill and Tom Breen in New
Orleans and Erica Werner, Lauran
Neergaard and Seth Borenstein in
Washington contributed to this report.

www.lawattstimes.com

L.A. Watts Times 7

Some Muslims Question
Mosque Near Ground Zero
BY RACHEL ZOLL
AP RELIGION WRITER
NEW YORK — American
Muslims who support the proposed
mosque and Islamic center near ground
zero are facing skeptics within their
own faith — those who argue that the

He said the space should include a
synagogue and a church so it will truly
be interfaith.
Abdul Cader Asmal, past president of the Islamic Council of New
England, an umbrella group for more
than 15 Islamic centers, said some

PERSON Of The Week
Pastor Alicia
L. Partee

the location they’ve got,” said Nomani,
an advocate for women’s rights and tolerance in the Muslim world.
The developers for the project,
called Park51, have modeled their plan
on a YMCA and Jewish Community
Center. The site, two blocks from

P
AP Photo

In this Aug. 14, 2010, photo, pedestrians walk past the 19th century building on Park Place in Manhattan where
Muslims plan to build a mosque and cultural center in New York.
project is insensitive to Sept. 11 victims
and needlessly provocative at a time
when Muslims are pressing for wider
acceptance in the U.S.
“For most Americans, 9/11 remains as an open wound, and anything
associated with Islam, even for
Americans who want to understand
Islam — to have an Islamic center with
so much publicity is like rubbing salt in
open wounds,” said Akbar Ahmed, professor of Islamic studies at American
University, a former Pakistani ambassador to Britain and author of “Journey
Into America, The Challenge of Islam.”

Obituary For
U.D. ‘Jack’
Alsobrooks
The family of U.D. “Jack”
Alsobrooks announces that he
passed away peacefully in his
sleep on Aug. 9, at the age of 88.
Memorial Services will be held at
The Church of Christian Fellowship 2085 S. Hobart Blvd., at 10
a.m. on Aug. 21. In lieu of flowers, make donations in his name to
Treepeople.org.

opponents of the $100 million, 13-story
project are indeed anti-Muslim. But he
said many Americans have genuine,
understandable questions about Islam
and extremism.
In light of those fears, and the
opposition of many relatives of 9/11
victims, Asmal said organizers should
dramatically scale back the project to
just a simple mosque, despite their
legal right to construct what they want.
“Winning in the court of law is not
going to help improve the image of
Muslims nationwide,” said Asmal, a
Massachusetts physician. “You have to
win the hearts and minds of the ordinary American people.”
The project has touched off a
national debate over religious tolerance, American ideals and the stillfresh pain of the terrorist attacks. The
center’s leaders, Imam Feisal Abdul
Rauf, and his wife, Daisy Khan, have a
long record of interfaith outreach in
New York and beyond. They insist the
center will be a voice for moderate
Islam and will welcome people of all
religions. Supporters are outraged that
critics suspect the couple of an extremist agenda.
Asra Nomani, author of “Standing
Alone: An American Woman’s
Struggle for the Soul of Islam,” said she
backs the idea of the mosque in principle but believes the feelings of families
who lost loved ones in the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks should trump the plan.
“I haven’t been able to support the
building of the mosque right there in

where the World Trade Center stood,
will include a pool, gym and 500-seat
auditorium for cultural events for the
general public, along with a mosque
and a Sept. 11 memorial. Rauf is now
traveling overseas on his latest speaking tour for the U.S. State Department.
Even among American Muslims
who back the idea, there has been
grumbling about what they consider
the organizers’ public relations missteps. A plan to build what would
essentially be a local city mosque has
now turned into a national confrontation that is roiling Muslim communities
nationwide.
Rauf’s decision to remain overseas without making a statement on the
controversy has also caused some frustration. Khan, and developer Sharif ElGamal of SoHo Properties, which
owns the building, have mostly been
the public face of Park51.
“The total absence of Feisal Rauf
has a ‘Where’s Waldo’ quality that is
maddening in itself,” U.S. Muslim
writer Aziz Poonawalla, who supports
the center, told the blog ordinary-gentlemen.com. “I’m quite capable of
defending Rauf against some of the
accusations against him, but am not
inclined to carry his water for him
while he gallivants about the globe.”
Beyond misgivings about the
location, some U.S. Muslims have
raised concerns about what the mosque
could become after Rauf and Khan
retire and inevitably turn the center
over to new leadership. Like houses of

astor Alicia L. Partee is currently the interim associate pastor at
Ascension Lutheran Church in Los Angeles. Previously, Pastor
Alicia served at Maranatha Christian Center in San Jose,
California, for 14 years, spending four of those years as the administrative pastor. As a biblical expositor and teacher, she brings a wealth of
resources to all on living a life for God.
Pastor Partee shares her spiritual journey, her knowledge, education, and biblical truths with honesty. As a sought-after teacher and conference speaker, she shares the realities of her faith and her abundant
resources with an openness and sincerity.
Pastor Partee earned a bachelor’s degree in theology from
Williams Jessup University and a Master of Arts in Marriage and
Family Therapy from Western Seminary. She is also a marriage and
family therapist intern. Her passion is to bring healing and reconciliation in the life of God’s people with a unique opportunity to integrate
the Bible and therapy.
She is married to Tyrone Partee, senior pastor of Olivet Lutheran
Church. She is the mother of six children and two grandchildren.

worship in all faiths, Islamic centers
can change over time depending on the
worldviews of congregants and the
imams who lead them.
Nomani said American Muslims
have not fully confronted extremism in
Islam, which makes her worried that
any mosque has the potential to
become a haven for those with rigid
views.
“Yes, there is prejudice against
Muslims in the modern day, but also
Muslims in the modern day have an
extremist problem,” Nomani said.
Tawfik Hamid, an Egyptian
scholar and reformer who said he was
once a member of a terrorist group, said
he had a “conditional objection”
to the proposed Islamic center.
He said it was not enough for
Park51 leaders to call themselves moderate. Instead, they should “clearly and
unambiguously” reject radicalization
by opposing specific extremist practices, such as killing apostates, stoning
women for adultery, calling Jews “pigs
and monkeys” and "declaring war" on
non-Muslims who refuse to convert.
“This, in my view, will be perceived by radicals in Islam as a defeat
for their ideology,” said Hamid, senior
fellow at the Potomac Institute for

Policy Studies. “They think in a very
primitive way. If they see a mosque
near ground zero, this would certainly
be perceived as a sign of victory for alQaeda. In the end, they will think,
‘They are bowing to us.’ ”
Few American Muslims who lost
relatives in the terrorist strikes have
spoken out, but those who have are also
divided.
Talat Hamdani, a Muslim whose
son Salman, a New York police cadet
and emergency medical technician,
was killed on Sept. 11, supports the
proposal.
“I’m not fighting for a mosque.
I’m fighting for my rights,” she said.
By contrast, Neda Bolourchi of
Los Angeles, a native of Iran whose
mother was on one of the planes that
crashed into the World Trade Center,
opposes the plan.
“I fear that over time, it will cultivate a fundamentalist version of the
Muslim faith, embracing those who
share such beliefs and hating those who
do not,” she wrote in a Washington
Post op-ed. “To the supporters of this
new Islamic cultural center, I must ask:
Build your ideological monument
somewhere else, far from my mother's
grave, and let her rest.”

8

L.A. Watts Times

Thursday, August 19, 2010

SPORTS BEAT B
Notes, quotes and things picked
up on the run from coast-to-coast and
all the stops in between and beyond.
Tiger Woods still hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t won a
tournament in 2010. He tied for 28th
place and only made 46,700 of those
pretty little green ones.

Y BRAD PYE JR.

about the duo, according to the L.A.
Times: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Those two guys are two of the
finest sophomore cornerbacks I can
imagine.â&#x20AC;?
Ex-USC running back Stafon
Johnson unfortunately has been injured â&#x20AC;&#x201D; again. But the injury wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t as

AP Photo

Lorenzen Wrightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body was found July 28 in woods outside Memphis after
he had been missing for 10 days. He was shot to death in what police are
calling a homicide. No arrests have been made.

Wrightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ex-Wife
Says He Left Her
House With Drugs
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The
ex-wife of slain former NBA player
Lorenzen Wright told police she saw
him leave her home carrying money
and a box of drugs the night he disappeared, according to court documents obtained Wednesday.
Sherra Wright said her ex-husband left her home at 10:30 p.m. on
July 18 with the drugs, returned a
short time later, then left again with
an unspecified amount of money,
said an affidavit for a search warrant
by Memphis police Sgt. W.D.
Merritt.
Before he left, Sherra Wright
said she overheard her ex-husband
on the telephone telling someone
that he was going to â&#x20AC;&#x153;flip something
for $110,000,â&#x20AC;? the document said.
Sherra Wright said Lorenzen
Wright left her home in a car with a
person she said she could not identify. Hours later, police dispatchers
received a 911 call from Wright's
cell phone and heard noises like gunshots before the call was dropped.
Wrightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s body was found July
28 in woods outside Memphis. The
34-year-old had been missing for 10
days. No arrests have been made in
the homicide and Memphis police

will not discuss whether they have a
motive or suspects in the shooting
death.
The affidavit said Sherra
Wright gave the statements to police
in the Memphis suburb of
Collierville, where she lives, on July
27 five days after the former
University of Memphis basketball
star's mother filed a missing person
report.
Sherra Wright also told police
that her ex-husband owned a shotgun that he kept at her home and a
handgun he kept inside the family
van. A search of the home and the
van failed to turn up the weapons,
the affidavit said.
Police did find shell casings of
different caliber bullets at the scene
where Wright was shot, but they
could not find Wrightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cell phone.
The affidavit said police were
going to use documents showing
ownership of the two weapons to see
if they match the bullet shell casings
recovered at the crime scene.
Wright, a 6-foot-11 forwardcenter, played with five teams during
his 13-year NBA career. He averaged 8 points and 6.4 rebounds in
778 career NBA games.

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*"#) ,.#"
% '*
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$+# 1#
*)/#-* /'1#

Tiger Woods

Woods will play again in Paramus, N.J., on Aug. 26 at the Barclays at
Ridgewood Country Club.
Martin Kaymer won the PGA
C ha mpions hip a nd pic ke d up
$1,350,000 in a playoff with Bubba
Watson.
Who would have ever thought
Woods would ever tie for 78th place in
a golf tournament? Well, recently he
did at the Bridgestone Invitational.
If Woods is to play in the Ryder
Cup, he must be voted on the team.
And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś
University of Southern California running back Marc Tyler will
have to go some to match the running
feats of his dad, Wendell Tyler, the
UCLA All-American and pro football
star with the then-L.A. Rams and the
San Francisco 49ers. Wendell won
all-star honors at Crenshaw High
School. Young Tyler starred in high
schools in Orange County.
Has there ever been a Hall of
Famer with a vice president of the
United States as a personal friend?
Well, former running back Floyd
Little has one â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Vice President Joe
Biden.
How good are UCLAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cornerback duo of Aaron Hester and
Sheldon Price? Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what Bruins
head coach Rick Neuheisel has to say

Pierce, and the rest of the Celtics will
play against the back-to-back champion Lakers.
Also, the Lakers will open the
season Oct. 26 against the Houston
Rockets at the Staples Center.
Lisa Leslie, now that she has
retired as one of the greatest performers and record-setters in womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s basketball history, has a new goal: She
wants to be an NBA studio analyst for
TNT, the L.A. Times reports.
Leslie tells the newspaper she
feels she will fit just fine as a TV analyst with Charles Barkley and Kenny
Smith.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got great love for Lisa,â&#x20AC;? the
L.A. Times quoted Barkley as saying.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would be cool to work with her.â&#x20AC;?
And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s official: The Williams sisters
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Venus and Serena â&#x20AC;&#x201D; will play in
the final of the Fed Cup in San Diego
on Nov. 6 and 7, according to the U.S.
Tennis Association.
And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś
The L.A. Dodgers and L.A.
Angels of Anaheim will be missing in
the post-season playoffs unless both
teams can come up with a pair of miracles. They need to do a better job and
win more games.
Yes, just list both the Dodgers and
Angels as â&#x20AC;&#x153;missing in actionâ&#x20AC;? when it
comes to the playoffs.
And the beat ends.
Brad Pye Jr. can be reached at
switchreel@aol.com.

serious as when weights crushed his
throat and larynx last September while
he was in a gym.
Johnson dislocated his ankle
recently when his Tennessee Titans
played against the Seattle Seahawks.
The Titans lost 20-18.
In other football news, the
University of Pittsburghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Dion
Lewis is being called the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
greatest running back since the great
Tony Dorsett. Lewis rushed for 1,799
yards last season.
And the beat continuesâ&#x20AC;Ś
It seems Shaquille Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neal has
been welcomed to the Boston Celtics
with open arms, especially by Ray
Allen.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;One of our bad traits this past
year was offensive rebounding and
rebounding in general, and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a guy
that takes up a lot of space, so I definitely think he can help us,â&#x20AC;? The Associated
Press quoted Allen as saying.
The Celtics is the sixth team
Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neal has been with.
Two big games of the NBA regular season will be played at the Staples
Center:
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade,
Chris Bosh, and the rest of the Miami
Heat, will battle it out with the Los
Angeles Lakers on Christmas Day.
And on Jan. 30, 2011, Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neal, Paul